The prophet begins with lamenting the dismal reverse of fortune that befell his country, confessing at the same time that her calamities were the just consequence of her sins, Lam 1:1-6. Jerusalem herself is then pers…
1¡Cómo ha quedado sola la ciudad populosa! La grande entre las naciones se ha vuelto como viuda, La señora de provincias ha sido hecha tributaria.
2Amargamente llora en la noche, y sus lágrimas están en sus mejillas. No tiene quien la consuele de todos sus amantes; Todos sus amigos le faltaron, se le volvieron enemigos.
3Judá ha ido en cautiverio a causa de la aflicción y de la dura servidumbre; Ella habitó entre las naciones, y no halló descanso; Todos sus perseguidores la alcanzaron entre las estrechuras.
4Las calzadas de Sion tienen luto, porque no hay quien venga a las fiestas solemnes; Todas sus puertas están asoladas, sus sacerdotes gimen, Sus vírgenes están afligidas, y ella tiene amargura.
5Sus enemigos han sido hechos príncipes, sus aborrecedores fueron prosperados, Porque Jehová la afligió por la multitud de sus rebeliones; Sus hijos fueron en cautividad delante del enemigo.
6Desapareció de la hija de Sion toda su hermosura; Sus príncipes fueron como ciervos que no hallan pasto, Y anduvieron sin fuerzas delante del perseguidor.
7Jerusalén, cuando cayó su pueblo en mano del enemigo y no hubo quien la ayudase, Se acordó de los días de su aflicción, y de sus rebeliones, Y de todas las cosas agradables que tuvo desde los tiempos antiguos. La miraron los enemigos, y se burlaron de su caída.
8Pecado cometió Jerusalén, por lo cual ella ha sido removida; Todos los que la honraban la han menospreciado, porque vieron su vergüenza; Y ella suspira, y se vuelve atrás.
9Su inmundicia está en sus faldas, y no se acordó de su fin; Por tanto, ella ha descendido sorprendentemente, y no tiene quien la consuele. Mira, oh Jehová, mi aflicción, porque el enemigo se ha engrandecido.
10Extendió su mano el enemigo a todas sus cosas preciosas; Ella ha visto entrar en su santuario a las naciones De las cuales mandaste que no entrasen en tu congregación.
11Todo su pueblo buscó su pan suspirando; Dieron por la comida todas sus cosas preciosas, para entretener la vida. Mira, oh Jehová, y ve que estoy abatida.
12¿No os conmueve a cuantos pasáis por el camino? Mirad, y ved si hay dolor como mi dolor que me ha venido; Porque Jehová me ha angustiado en el día de su ardiente furor.
13Desde lo alto envió fuego que consume mis huesos; Ha extendido red a mis pies, me volvió atrás, Me dejó desolada, y con dolor todo el día.
14El yugo de mis rebeliones ha sido atado por su mano; Ataduras han sido echadas sobre mi cerviz; ha debilitado mis fuerzas; Me ha entregado el Señor en manos contra las cuales no podré levantarme.
15El Señor ha hollado a todos mis hombres fuertes en medio de mí; Llamó contra mí compañía para quebrantar a mis jóvenes; Como lagar ha hollado el Señor a la virgen hija de Judá.
16Por esta causa lloro; mis ojos, mis ojos fluyen aguas, Porque se alejó de mí el consolador que dé reposo a mi alma; Mis hijos son destruidos, porque el enemigo prevaleció.
17Sion extendió sus manos; no tiene quien la consuele; Jehová dio mandamiento contra Jacob, que sus vecinos fuesen sus enemigos; Jerusalén fue objeto de abominación entre ellos.
18Jehová es justo; yo contra su palabra me rebelé. Oíd ahora, pueblos todos, y ved mi dolor; Mis vírgenes y mis jóvenes fueron llevados en cautiverio.
19Di voces a mis amantes, mas ellos me han engañado; Mis sacerdotes y mis ancianos en la ciudad perecieron, Buscando comida para sí con que entretener su vida.
20Mira, oh Jehová, estoy atribulada, mis entrañas hierven. Mi corazón se trastorna dentro de mí, porque me rebelé en gran manera. Por fuera hizo estragos la espada; por dentro señoreó la muerte.
21Oyeron que gemía, mas no hay consolador para mí; Todos mis enemigos han oído mi mal, se alegran de lo que tú hiciste. Harás venir el día que has anunciado, y serán como yo.
22Venga delante de ti toda su maldad, Y haz con ellos como hiciste conmigo por todas mis rebeliones; Porque muchos son mis suspiros, y mi corazón está adolorido.
ADAM CLARKE BIBLE COMMENTARY
I
Versículo 1
I. How doth the city sit solitary - Sitting down, with the elbow on the knee, and the head supported…
How doth the city sit solitary - Sitting down, with the elbow on the knee, and the head supported by the hand, without any company, unless an oppressor near, - all these were signs of mourning and distress. The coin struck by Vespasian on the capture of Jerusalem, on the obverse of which there is a palm-tree, the emblem of Judea, and under it a woman, the emblem of Jerusalem, sitting, leaning as before described, with the legend Judea capta, illustrates this expression as well as that in Isa 47:1. See the note on Isa 3:26 (note), where the subject is farther explained.
Become as a widow - Having lost her king. Cities are commonly described as the mothers of their inhabitants, the kings as husbands, and the princes as children. When therefore they are bereaved of these, they are represented as widows, and childless.
The Hindoo widow, as well as the Jewish, is considered the most destitute and wretched of all human beings. She has her hair cut short, throws off all ornaments, eats the coarsest food, fasts often, and is all but an outcast in the family of her late husband.
Is she become tributary! - Having no longer the political form of a nation; and the remnant that is left paying tribute to a foreign and heathen conqueror.
II
Versículo 2
II. Among all her lovers - Her allies; her friends, instead of helping her, have helped her enemies. …
Among all her lovers - Her allies; her friends, instead of helping her, have helped her enemies. Several who sought her friendship when she was in prosperity, in the time of David and Solomon, are now among her enemies.
III
Versículo 3
III. Between the straits - She has been brought into such difficulties, that it was impossible for her…
Between the straits - She has been brought into such difficulties, that it was impossible for her to escape. Has this any reference to the circumstances in which Zedekiah and the princes of Judah endeavored to escape from Jerusalem, by the way of the gates between the two walls? Jer 52:7.
IV
Versículo 4
IV. The ways of Zion do mourn - A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the …
The ways of Zion do mourn - A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the sacred solemnities, being now no longer frequented, are represented as shedding tears; and the gates themselves partake of the general distress. All poets of eminence among the Greeks and Romans have recourse to this image. So Moschus, in his Epitaph on Bion, ver. 1-3: -
Αιλινα μοι στροναχειτε ναπαι, και Δωριον ὑδωρ
Και ποταμοι κλαιοιτε τον ἱμεροεντα Βιωνα.
Νυν φυτα μοι μυρεσθε, και αλσεα νυν γοαοισθε, κ. τ. λ.
"Ye winds, with grief your waving summits bow,
Ye Dorian fountains, murmur as ye flow;
From weeping urns your copious sorrows shed,
And bid the rivers mourn for Bion dead.
Ye shady groves, in robes of sable hue,
Bewail, ye plants, in pearly drops of dew;
Ye drooping flowers, diffuse a languid breath,
And die with sorrow, at sweet Bion's death."
Fawkes.
So Virgil, Aen. vii., ver. 759: -
Te nemus Anguitiae, vitrea te Fucinus unda
Te liquidi flevere lacus.
"For thee, wide echoing, sighed th' Anguitian woods;
For thee, in murmurs, wept thy native floods."
And more particularly on the death of Daphnis, Eclog. 5 ver. 24: -
Non ulli pastos illis egere diebus Frigida,
Daphni, boves ad flumina: nulla neque amnem
Libavit quadrupes, nec graminis attigit herbam.
Daphni, tuum Poenos etiam ingemuisse leones
Interitum, montesque feri, sylvaeque loquuntur.
"The swains forgot their sheep, nor near the brink
Of running waters brought their herds to drink:
The thirsty cattle of themselves abstained
From water, and their grassy fare disdained.
The death of Daphnis woods and hills deplore;
The Libyan lions hear, and hearing roar."
Dryden.
V
Versículo 5
V. Her adversaries are the chief - They have now supreme dominion over the whole land.
Her adversaries are the chief - They have now supreme dominion over the whole land.
VI
Versículo 7
VI. Did mock at her Sabbaths - משבתה mishbatteha. Some contend that Sabbaths are not intended here. T…
Did mock at her Sabbaths - משבתה mishbatteha. Some contend that Sabbaths are not intended here. The Septuagint has κατοικεσια αυτης, "her habitation;" the Chaldee, על טובהא al tubaha, "her good things;" the Syriac, al toboroh, "her breach." The Vulgate and Arabic agree with the Hebrew. Some of my oldest MSS. have the word in the plural number, משבתיה mishbatteyha, "her Sabbaths." A multitude of Kennicott's MSS. have the same reading. The Jews were despised by the heathen for keeping the Sabbath. Juvenal mocks them on that account: -
- cui septima quaeque fuit lux
Ignava et partem vitae non attigit ullam.
Sat. v.
"To whom every seventh day was a blank,
and formed not any part of their life."
St. Augustine represents Seneca as doing the same: -
Inutiliter id eos facere affirmans, quod septimani ferme partem aetatis suae perdent vacando, et multa in tempore urgentia non agendo laedantur.
"That they lost the seventh part of their life in keeping their Sabbaths; and injured themselves by abstaining from the performance of many necessary things in such times."
He did not consider that the Roman calendar and customs gave them many more idle days than God had prescribed in Sabbaths to the Jews. The Sabbath is a most wise and beneficent ordinance.
VII
Versículo 9
VII. She remembereth not her last end - Although evident marks of her pollution appeared about her, an…
She remembereth not her last end - Although evident marks of her pollution appeared about her, and the land was defiled by her sinfulness even to its utmost borders, she had no thought or consideration of what must be the consequence of all this at the last. - Blayney.
VIII
Versículo 11
VIII. They have given their pleasant things - Jerusalem is compared to a woman brought into great strai…
They have given their pleasant things - Jerusalem is compared to a woman brought into great straits, who parts with her jewels and trinkets in order to purchase by them the necessaries of life.
IX
Versículo 12
IX. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? - The desolations and distress brought upon this city …
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? - The desolations and distress brought upon this city and its inhabitants had scarcely any parallel. Excessive abuse of God's accumulated mercies calls for singular and exemplary punishment.
X
Versículo 14
X. The yoke of my transgressions - I am now tied and bound by the chain of my sins; and it is so wre…
The yoke of my transgressions - I am now tied and bound by the chain of my sins; and it is so wreathed, so doubled and twisted round me, that I cannot free myself. A fine representation of the miseries of a penitent soul, which feels that nothing but the pitifulness of God's mercy can loose it.
XI
Versículo 15
XI. Called an assembly - The Chaldean army, composed of various nations, which God commissioned to de…
Called an assembly - The Chaldean army, composed of various nations, which God commissioned to destroy Jerusalem.
XII
Versículo 17
XII. Zion spreadeth forth her hands - Extending the hands is the form in supplication.
Zion spreadeth forth her hands - Extending the hands is the form in supplication.
Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman - To whom none dared to approach, either to help or comfort, because of the law, Lev 15:19-27.
XIII
Versículo 19
XIII. I called for my lovers - My allies; the Egyptians and others.
I called for my lovers - My allies; the Egyptians and others.
XIV
Versículo 20
XIV. Abroad the sword bereaveth - War is through the country; and at home death; the pestilence and fa…
Abroad the sword bereaveth - War is through the country; and at home death; the pestilence and famine rage in the city; calamity in every shape is fallen upon me.
Virgil represents the calamities of Troy under the same image: -
- Nec soli poenas dant sanguine Teucri:
Quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus;
Victoresque cadunt Danai. Crudelis ubique
Luctus, ubique Pavor, et plurima mortis imago.
Aeneid. lib. 2:366.
"Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn,
The vanquished triumph, and the victors mourn.
Ours take new courage from despair and night;
Confused the fortune is, confused the fight.
All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;
And grisly death in sundry shapes appears."
Dryden.
So Milton -
" - Despair
Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch;
And over them triumphant Death his dart Shook."
Par. Lost, B. 11:489.
Jeremiah, Jer 9:21, uses the same image: -
Death is come up into our windows:
He hath entered our palaces,
To cut off the infants without,
And the young men in our streets.
So Silius Italicus, II. 548: -
Mors graditur, vasto pandens cava guttura rletu,
Casuroque inhians populo.
"Death stalks along, and opens his hideous
throat to gulp down the people."
XV
Versículo 21
XV. They have heard that I sigh - My affliction is public enough; but no one comes to comfort me.
They have heard that I sigh - My affliction is public enough; but no one comes to comfort me.
They are glad that thou hast done it - On the contrary, they exult in my misery; and they see that Thou hast done what they were incapable of performing.
Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me - Babylon shall be visited in her turn; and thy judgments poured out upon her shall equal her state with my own. See the last six chapters of the preceding prophecy for the accomplishment of this prediction.
16
Versículo 22
16. Let all their wickedness come before thee - That is, Thou wilt call their crimes also into rememb…
Let all their wickedness come before thee - That is, Thou wilt call their crimes also into remembrance; and thou wilt do unto them by siege, sword, famine, and captivity, what thou hast done to me. Though thy judgments, because of thy long-suffering, are slow; yet, because of thy righteousness, they are sure.
For my sighs are many - My desolations continue; and my heart is faint - my political and physical strength almost totally destroyed.
Imprecations in the sacred writings are generally to be understood as declarative of the evils they indicate; or, that such evils will take place. No prophet of God ever wished desolation on those against whom he was directed to prophesy.
Antiguo Testamento
Lamentations — Capítulo 1
The prophet begins with lamenting the dismal reverse of fortune that befell his country, confessing at the same time that her calamities were the just consequence of her sins, Lam 1:1-6. Jerusalem herself is then pers…
Texto — Reina-Valera 1960
1¡Cómo ha quedado sola la ciudad populosa! La grande entre las naciones se ha vuelto como viuda, La señora de provincias ha sido hecha tributaria.
2Amargamente llora en la noche, y sus lágrimas están en sus mejillas. No tiene quien la consuele de todos sus amantes; Todos sus amigos le faltaron, se le volvieron enemigos.
3Judá ha ido en cautiverio a causa de la aflicción y de la dura servidumbre; Ella habitó entre las naciones, y no halló descanso; Todos sus perseguidores la alcanzaron entre las estrechuras.
4Las calzadas de Sion tienen luto, porque no hay quien venga a las fiestas solemnes; Todas sus puertas están asoladas, sus sacerdotes gimen, Sus vírgenes están afligidas, y ella tiene amargura.
5Sus enemigos han sido hechos príncipes, sus aborrecedores fueron prosperados, Porque Jehová la afligió por la multitud de sus rebeliones; Sus hijos fueron en cautividad delante del enemigo.
6Desapareció de la hija de Sion toda su hermosura; Sus príncipes fueron como ciervos que no hallan pasto, Y anduvieron sin fuerzas delante del perseguidor.
7Jerusalén, cuando cayó su pueblo en mano del enemigo y no hubo quien la ayudase, Se acordó de los días de su aflicción, y de sus rebeliones, Y de todas las cosas agradables que tuvo desde los tiempos antiguos. La miraron los enemigos, y se burlaron de su caída.
8Pecado cometió Jerusalén, por lo cual ella ha sido removida; Todos los que la honraban la han menospreciado, porque vieron su vergüenza; Y ella suspira, y se vuelve atrás.
9Su inmundicia está en sus faldas, y no se acordó de su fin; Por tanto, ella ha descendido sorprendentemente, y no tiene quien la consuele. Mira, oh Jehová, mi aflicción, porque el enemigo se ha engrandecido.
10Extendió su mano el enemigo a todas sus cosas preciosas; Ella ha visto entrar en su santuario a las naciones De las cuales mandaste que no entrasen en tu congregación.
11Todo su pueblo buscó su pan suspirando; Dieron por la comida todas sus cosas preciosas, para entretener la vida. Mira, oh Jehová, y ve que estoy abatida.
12¿No os conmueve a cuantos pasáis por el camino? Mirad, y ved si hay dolor como mi dolor que me ha venido; Porque Jehová me ha angustiado en el día de su ardiente furor.
13Desde lo alto envió fuego que consume mis huesos; Ha extendido red a mis pies, me volvió atrás, Me dejó desolada, y con dolor todo el día.
14El yugo de mis rebeliones ha sido atado por su mano; Ataduras han sido echadas sobre mi cerviz; ha debilitado mis fuerzas; Me ha entregado el Señor en manos contra las cuales no podré levantarme.
15El Señor ha hollado a todos mis hombres fuertes en medio de mí; Llamó contra mí compañía para quebrantar a mis jóvenes; Como lagar ha hollado el Señor a la virgen hija de Judá.
16Por esta causa lloro; mis ojos, mis ojos fluyen aguas, Porque se alejó de mí el consolador que dé reposo a mi alma; Mis hijos son destruidos, porque el enemigo prevaleció.
17Sion extendió sus manos; no tiene quien la consuele; Jehová dio mandamiento contra Jacob, que sus vecinos fuesen sus enemigos; Jerusalén fue objeto de abominación entre ellos.
18Jehová es justo; yo contra su palabra me rebelé. Oíd ahora, pueblos todos, y ved mi dolor; Mis vírgenes y mis jóvenes fueron llevados en cautiverio.
19Di voces a mis amantes, mas ellos me han engañado; Mis sacerdotes y mis ancianos en la ciudad perecieron, Buscando comida para sí con que entretener su vida.
20Mira, oh Jehová, estoy atribulada, mis entrañas hierven. Mi corazón se trastorna dentro de mí, porque me rebelé en gran manera. Por fuera hizo estragos la espada; por dentro señoreó la muerte.
21Oyeron que gemía, mas no hay consolador para mí; Todos mis enemigos han oído mi mal, se alegran de lo que tú hiciste. Harás venir el día que has anunciado, y serán como yo.
22Venga delante de ti toda su maldad, Y haz con ellos como hiciste conmigo por todas mis rebeliones; Porque muchos son mis suspiros, y mi corazón está adolorido.
ADAM CLARKE BIBLE COMMENTARY
Versículo 1
I. How doth the city sit solitary - Sitting down, with the elbow on the knee, and the head supported…
Versículo 2
II. Among all her lovers - Her allies; her friends, instead of helping her, have helped her enemies. …
Versículo 3
III. Between the straits - She has been brought into such difficulties, that it was impossible for her…
Versículo 4
IV. The ways of Zion do mourn - A fine prosopopoeia. The ways in which the people trod coming to the …
Versículo 5
V. Her adversaries are the chief - They have now supreme dominion over the whole land.
Versículo 7
VI. Did mock at her Sabbaths - משבתה mishbatteha. Some contend that Sabbaths are not intended here. T…
Versículo 9
VII. She remembereth not her last end - Although evident marks of her pollution appeared about her, an…
Versículo 11
VIII. They have given their pleasant things - Jerusalem is compared to a woman brought into great strai…
Versículo 12
IX. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? - The desolations and distress brought upon this city …
Versículo 14
X. The yoke of my transgressions - I am now tied and bound by the chain of my sins; and it is so wre…
Versículo 15
XI. Called an assembly - The Chaldean army, composed of various nations, which God commissioned to de…
Versículo 17
XII. Zion spreadeth forth her hands - Extending the hands is the form in supplication.
Versículo 19
XIII. I called for my lovers - My allies; the Egyptians and others.
Versículo 20
XIV. Abroad the sword bereaveth - War is through the country; and at home death; the pestilence and fa…
Versículo 21
XV. They have heard that I sigh - My affliction is public enough; but no one comes to comfort me.
Versículo 22
16. Let all their wickedness come before thee - That is, Thou wilt call their crimes also into rememb…